An artist called Christine Chin has created a range of kitchen
utensils that look like anatomically accurate body parts such as
nipples, tongues, noses, teeth and toes.

The series of works, called Sentient Kitchen, aims to examine the convergence between
technology and biology.

"I was thinking about how science is advancing in two directions
-- one is that we are developing 'smart' machines such as IBM's
Watson, the recently beat human competitors at Jeopardy.
The other is our ability to engineer new life forms, such as the
dengue fighting mosquitos that have recently been in the news.
Sentient Kitchen is where these two directions converge in the
kitchen and these hybrid lifeforms imply both intelligence and
bioengineered new species," Chin told Wired.co.uk.

The objects in the collection include a salt dispenser that
looks like a human mouth, which detects salinity and dispense the
appropriate amount. There is also a pepper mill that "sneezes" out
ground pepper and a milk jug that is covered in human nipples that
each release milk. Other exhibits include a teacup with an ear
instead of a handle, a diet tool sugar pot with an eye embedded in
the lid which has a 'non-judgmental gaze', and a parmesan shaker
with feet, which can respond to commands.

On her website, Chin explains: "As the machines that assist our
lives become smarter and more architecturally complex, they borrow
increasingly from the biological realm. What better way to dispense
salt than through an organ that is highly developed to taste, and
why not take advantage of the mammary gland's unique relationship
to milk?"

The pieces were presented as concepts in a series of videos and
photographs -- i.e. they didn't actual perform the interactive
functions ascribed to them. Chin created eerily realistic
sculptures from flesh-coloured silicone, real human hair and glass
and chrome kitchen objects. These were then photographed and filmed
to show how a working prototype might function. "When making the
videos it was difficult to find a way to make the objects function
that was believable and not artificial."

Chin told Wired.co.uk that she wants to get people interested in
thinking about some of the possibilities and problems that will
arise with the advancement of genetic engineering. "I chose to work
with the 'human' hybrid to directly implicate us as human beings
into the work, since one of the larger moral and philosophical
questions is the question of how much do we want to manipulate our
own genetic heritage."